Friday mailbag: When is offseason stuff going to happen?

Vikings fans are getting antsy for resolution to the QB situation

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Friday everyone! It’s almost time for the NFL Combine and then things will really get moving on the offseason. Let’s dive into your questions for this week…

Disclaimer: I’ve spent the week participating in jury duty, so this mailbag was written after a pretty stressful last few days. Forgive the typos and/or wacky answers…

@Aoki5Chuck On a scale of one to Sam Waterston, how much is jury duty like a Law and Order episode?

Law and Order is like a highlight reel of a case and with lots of dramatization. There are a few moments in testimony that pop but it’s mostly an arduous process. We had one witness on the stand for two days. On Law and Order, that person would be shown with one or two questions that were key story points and that’s it. The lawyers do not get in the faces of witnesses like they do on shows. They can, however, be over the top in closing statements. The defense lawyer in our case actually pulled out the board game Clue and said that the state couldn’t tell us who did it and in what room. Being on a jury definitely didn’t ruin Law and Order for me at all.

@HokNate Is there anything particular we should keep an eye out in the combine?

A few things. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell will speak at the podium and in a side session with beat reporters, which means getting them to talk about a lot of issues for the first time outside of an introductory press conference setting. I’ll have takeaway articles from those. Also the quarterback workouts and what all the draft analysts hear from NFL people about how the top guys looked. Rumors about things like QB trades usually make their way out when so many NFL people are together in one place. And you’re looking at how the top 10 is going to shake out post-Combine. It seems like now there’s a lot of uncertainty, even about who’s going No. 1 overall. Maybe we know better after this week.

@youvikethat1 I heard Mike Pettine is going to be involved in the game management. What does that look like? I remember a few years ago when Baltimore had a game theory analyst. Do more teams do that now?

I do believe more teams are doing that now, yes. I’m pretty sure the Rams had someone in charge of game management — although I don’t know if that person told McVay to blow his timeouts in the NFC Championship game. Anyway, especially when O’Connell is going to be calling offensive plays, someone needs to be on top of the clock, fourth down decisions, two-point tries and all that stuff. Whether we can welcome Mike Pettine to the fourth down revolution or not, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

@JRG_2154 Why do you think people still think Cousins can be a franchise QB? He is 34,has been coached by both of the Shanahans, the Kubiaks, McVay, Stefanski and Lefleur. I’m willing to bet KoC is not going to be the exception

That probably varies from Cousins Believer to Cousins Believer but generally speaking, it has felt like they were on the doorstep every year with him and there was always something in the way. But while it’s true that Rick Spielman didn’t give Cousins good enough guards and Mike Zimmer didn’t support him, the question is how much those things were really worth and if they are even relevant to the future of the team. The real question is: Is it possible to make the circumstances perfect around him on a tight budget? Tough to thread that needle.

@mattverick I know ownership has said they want to be competitive now (whatever that means), but does it seem to you like their actions more say that they are done with any sort of mediocrity/average play? Do their actions, not words, mean they are more likely to trade or not extend Cousins?

Blowing out Spielman/Zimmer and hiring young, data-driven brass to reshape the roster does point more toward having a longer vision of trying to win a Super Bowl rather than just trying to be competitive next year. Aside from that, we haven’t really seen actions yet. We know that O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah sold the Wilfs on their vision in the hiring process, so whatever they do next will give us all the answers to what ownership sees as the direction. If they restructure everyone under the sun, keep Cousins and sign a bunch of defensive players, that will mean they want to go for it all in 2022. That would be pretty surprising though, right? I’ve always felt it was more likely they’d move Cousins because that better matches the people they landed on to put in charge.

@BaseballNorm everyone wants to know…What combine event would be your best chance to impress scouts? Think you could get the bar off the bench press?

I’ve never benched pressed in my life, so I’m going to guess that I wouldn’t do well there. From my experience playing pickup basketball, I can say that I have mildly quick feet for a mid-30s dude whose only physical activity is BBall at the park, golf and jogging. So I’m thinking the 3-Cone is my best shot at not being a total disaster.

@kimballhal Sam Darnold talk. Is he worse than Christian Ponder?

Let’s find out! Using the Pro-Football Reference player comparison tool, holy moly they are similar. Spooky similar.

They even ran for the same number of yards. So weird.

Adjusted for era, give Ponder the slight edge but yeeeeeek.

@jls1968 When will the final decision on Cousins be made, stay or go the Kirk talk is maddening.

I wish I knew, brother. It could be this weekend, it could be August 15, it could be February 2023. Even if they re-work his contract, it doesn’t 100% guarantee he’s set here. So we wait.

@tadfundermann Why are we so reluctant to take a risk at QB as a fanbase? Especially when there is so much evidence that taking the risk can pay huge dividends. Is it truly all because of the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Ponder pick?

That’s definitely it for some people. The weird thing about Ponder fear is that while it was miserable to watch him play, the Vikings nearly ended up with Andrew Luck the next year because of it. Even when they missed out on Luck and picked another bust in Matt Kalil, they figured it out quickly and drafted a QB who won the division in 2015. From 2011-2015, the Vikings made the postseason twice and were a loss away from drafting a generational QB prospect in Luck. Is that worse than 2018-2021? There’s always a chance you’ll draft at bad quarterback. But you benefit from being bad in the NFL. You do not benefit from being 8-9.

@joshvl81 Wondered this during the HC search. Not 1 of the 10 HC in the history of the Vikes had any NFL HC experience and only two (Norm VB and Green) was ever a HC again in the NFL. Curious how this compares with other NFL teams and what to make of this. Why never go with experience?

It’s an interesting observation. At one time, the franchise didn’t go with experience because they were cheap but that hasn’t been the case since the Wilfs took over. With the Wilfs’ hires, I’d guess it’s because they have always been in a situation where the roster is run down and it feels like they need patience rather than bringing in an old ballcoach to get them over the top. I’m not sure if there’s any connection with previous experience and success but some of the greatest coaches ever had multiple stops, including Belichick, Reid, Schottenheimer, Parcells, Holmgren, Shanahan, Carroll, Levy, Dungy, Vermeil etc. There’s been plenty of disasters too. Ditka in New Orleans, Denny in Arizona, Sam Wyche in Tampa Bay, Jeff Fisher with the Rams and on and on. Usually it’s about which guys have good players/QBs.

@BIG_dannn When does the poll come out for the listeners to determine who creates the best game show tone music between @CourtneyRCronin and you?

Why would I need a poll? The answer is obviously me. #PerfectPitch

@headcoach21 The Wilfs talked extensively about being competitive next year but they also can be talked into things pretty easily good or bad. Do you think ownership will buy into a possible down year in 2022 with a chance for a high ceiling in 2023??

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what they think but I can’t see any owner saying in February that their team is going to be bad the next year, especially when they have good players on offense. Competitive can mean a lot of things. If they go 8-9 next year, that’s competitive on some level. They’re not going 4-13 unless something goes terribly wrong anyway. It isn’t really possible with Jefferson/Thielen/Smith Jr./Cook/Darrisaw/O’Neill to lose that much unless Ponder comes back to play QB. Can the Wilfs sign up for approaching this offseason with a long-term view? I think so, yeah.

@onerealeazye On any potential trades for picks, is a early second rounder this year or a first rounder next year more lucrative? We have so many holes to fix this year, but could have more ammo for moving up if the quarterback of the future is in the 2023 draft.

There’s two guys at the top of the 2023 class who are top-notch prospects: Bryce Young and CJ Stroud. If the Vikings were in play for one of those guys in 2023, I’d say that it makes sense to just relax on the QB position for now, pick a pass rusher or something and then grab a quarterback next year. But if they’re drafting in the middle of the first round again, which seems like the most likely scenario unless they name Jake Browning the starter, they’d have to give up a king’s ransom to move up in the 2023 draft and hope that the teams at the top are already set at QB. Also add in the fact that there have been plenty of QBs who weren’t Luck-level rated prospects that have turned out to be good, it makes sense to take one now and see if it’s necessary to pick another one in 2023.

@RobDN1 We’re going to talk about QB’s ad nauseam this off-season (and I’m here for it). Does next year’s QB draft class project better than this year or it too early?

Yes, it’s better because of the high end talent. After Young and Stroud, it’s anybody’s guess. I was looking at a list that had Spencer Rattler as the third best QB prospect for 2023 and that dude lost his starting job at Oklahoma this year. Who knows. That’s so far away. Players can fall off or emerge quickly.

@JasonJEngler Hey Matthew, what’s the minimum you’d take in a trade for Kirk?

I’d go third-round pick if the other team was willing to take $35 million on the cap.

@Walterskol1 I heard you express concern about adding void years to kirks contract. What are your thoughts on the packers strategy? May be adding void years to multiple players. Already added 2? to aaron Jones contract. Sinking packer forever or super bowl 2023?

The way the Packers are handling their cap already screams that Aaron Rodgers is coming back to Green Bay for 2022. If Rodgers is indeed the Packers’ QB next year, they should void everything in sight to keep the roster together. Tom Brady will be on Tampa Bay’s salary cap until he’s 48 years old because of void years. Does anybody care? When you have one of the best QBs in history, do whatever it takes because the chances of getting another guy like Brees/Rodgers/Manning/Brady are almost zero. The last year of a GOAT is the time to go all-in.

@JRG_2154 Do you think KAM and KOC are going to tie their future to Cousins? when the reason they got the job was in part because of his inability to lead this team into the playoffs.

I don’t think they will. The idea of a long-term contract for Cousins doesn’t pass the smell test. If Adofo-Mensah has a four-year contract, is he really locking in three of those four years with an older, highly expensive quarterback who hasn’t taken a team beyond the divisional round at any point in his career? It makes much more sense for a new GM to want at least two bites at the apple drafting a QB and oodles of cap space to build a goliath roster. My guess is that they make Cousins an offer that they know he won’t accept and then either play it out in 2022 or trade him (and then tell the public that they tried to try.*)

*Trademark Bart Simpson*

@Yofollowme2 If the Vikings did not draft a quarterback with the first round. what do you think of Jordan Davis at pick 12 or trading down to get Jordan Davis, since Michael Pierce might actually be a cap casualty.

You guys know that I love gigantic nose tackles as much as anyone roaming this earth but it would be total insanity to draft Michael Pierce’s replacement in the first round. Jordan Davis’ NFL.com draft profile compares him to Ted Washington. I would wonder if Adofo-Mensah’s football computer went haywire if they picked a run-stuffing nose tackle in the first round.

@vikingsjazzfan What is the worst combine interview question you have heard?

Any time a reporter asks, “did you meet with [insert team here]?” I want to run into traffic.

@dixdickiemo If we haven’t heard any legit/substantial rumors of a Kirk trade by this date —————-, he’s staying at least for 22 -23 season

There isn’t any kind of hard deadline built into his contract so it could play out past free agency and the draft but it feels like there needs to be resolution before free agency. Not that the Eagles/Sam Bradford thing couldn’t happen, it’s just that they probably want to either do something to reduce his cap hit in 2022 to help them add talent in free agency or have the extra space from a trade before free agency opens. The Combine might push something forward if it’s going to happen.